A Tale of Two Schools
by Hafl
Summary: Boarding School AU. Two schools are connected not only by bitter rivalry, but also by bonds of family, romance and crossdressing. As the feud escalates, those with ties on both sides try to heal wounded pride and find path to reconciliation.
1. 01 Arrival: Eirika's Side

Ephraim and Eirika's first glance at their new schools was anything but pleasant. The town of Oxenham in remote Magvelshire seemed oppressed by those two looming, foreboding buildings that looked as if they were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the valley. The twins did not like to leave their old school to come here, but as their father had been given a new position in India, there was no one else to take care of them, so they had to be sent off to a boarding school. Fortunately, Mr. Hayden, father's old friend was a teacher at Oxenham and could recommend the two local schools very eloquently.

So today, on a drizzly and dreary autumn morning, Eirika and Ephraim were to begin their education in a strange new environment. They said farewell to each other, promised to meet on Sunday after church and then started towards their respective schools, both dragging their trunk behind them as they ascended towards their destinations.

Jehanna Girl Institute was a bit closer to Oxenham than the Grado Boy Academy, but when Eirika arrived, it was nearly lunchtime and the school seemed deserted, apart from an older man, who was tending to the school's garden. Eirika asked him where she could find Mr. Hayden and after hearing the answer, she was happy to leave her trunk in the man's care and head into the school building.

That turned to be a mistake, since even with the gardener's instructions, Eirika quickly became lost. She wandered the hallways, trying to at least find the place where she started, but without success. Finally, luck smiled at her, since she suddenly met one of the Institute's students, a girl little older than Eirika, who seemed utterly unsurprised to see a strange girl wandering the corridors.

"Are you lost?" she asked with a smile, "I heard there would be a new girl coming today, is that you?"

Relieved, Eirika nodded. "Yes, can you please tell me, where can I find Mr. Hayden?"

"Better than that, I can take you there," said the girl, "My name's L'Arachel, what's yours?"

"I'm Eirika. L'Arachel is quite an unusual name, are you French?"

L'Arachel laughed. "No, not at all. My parents just liked the sound of that name. Shall I take you to Mr. Hayden?"

"Yes, thank you very much," said Eirika.

It turned out that Mr. Hayden's office was actually very close. L'Arachel took Eirika inside and then excused herself.

"Hello, Eirika," said Mr. Hayden, "I hope you will like it here. Did you have a good journey?"

"Yes, Mr. Hayden. Father sends his best wishes," said Eirika, "Is Tana here? I would like to see her soon," said Eirika.

Mr. Hayden frowned. "Tana is studying at another school," he said, "I wouldn't tell it to another student, but I've known your father since before you were even born. I am a fallible man, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to be impartial when teaching her. That's why I sent her to a different school. Anyway, I should take you to meet Miss Ismaire, the Headmistress. She'll be able to explain things much better than I."

When they left Mr. Hayden's office, Eirika thought she just saw someone disappear behind a corner. However, Mr. Hayden did not seem to notice and went a different way and Eirika had to follow him. They went up, almost to the top floor, where Mr. Hayden knocked on a solid oak door. After being invited in, he opened the door, entered and motioned for Eirika to follow him.

The office belonging to the Headmistress was certainly furnished in excellent taste and much more splendidly than Mr. Hayden's. The Headmistress herself was still a young woman, certainly younger than Eirika would have expected. After hearing Mr. Hayden's introduction, Miss Ismaire turned to Eirika. "Hello, young lady. It is nice to have you here, even if you are a bit late for the term's beginning. My name is Ismaire and if you're not in trouble, we won't be seeing much of each other while you're here, as sad as it is. I hope you will like your studies here, but it won't be easy. I expect hard work from all students here, as we do not only want you to be a credit to the school and its honour, but also to grow up into fine women who can find their way in the world. All the teachers here will try to help you, but ultimately, the responsibility lies on you, we can only give you an opportunity. Now, do you have any questions?"

"No, Miss Ismaire," said Eirika, thoroughly affected by the Headmistress' speech.

"Very well," said Miss Ismaire, "Mr. Hayden, could you please call Lute? Eirika, please wait here for a bit."

It took hardly few minutes before there was a knock on the door and another girl slightly older than Eirika entered. Unlike L'Arachel, this one wore glasses and had a significantly less friendly expression on her face. "You asked for me, Miss Ismaire," she said.

"Yes," said Miss Ismaire, "This is Eirika, a new arrival. I would like you to first show her to the Fifth Form dormitory and then take her to take her trunk from Mr. Dozla. After that, introduce her to the other fifth formers. For this week, until she gets used to life here, she is your responsibility and you are to help her as much as possible. I trust Eirika will not abuse this privilege, but if something happens, tell Vanessa to sort it out."

Miss Ismaire finished. Lute was silent for a moment and then spoke, "Very well, Miss Ismaire." She turned to Eirika. "Come on then, we don't have all day."

When they left Miss Ismaire's office Eirika tried to smile at Lute, but the girl just scowled. "At this school, I have the best grade in every subject. I put a lot of work into achieving that and I'm absolutely sure I do not need a distraction like you to follow me. Come, let's get this over quickly," said Lute.

She started to walk so briskly Eirika had a hard time keeping up with her. There was no time to learn the school's layout; Eirika was barely able to keep up with Lute's pace. Finally, they arrived at a door labelled "5th Form, Dormitory". Lute opened the door without knocking and Eirika followed behind her.

The dormitory was a large room with twelve beds around the wall, each with curtains for privacy and a wardrobe and a nightstand next to it. Apart from that, there was a wooden bookshelf, a table with twelve chairs in the middle, and across the room was a door that probably led into a bathroom. Except for one girl reading at a table, there was nobody in the room.

"Oh, Marisa," said Lute, "It is good that you're here. This girl is new here. I need you to help her bring her things from Dozla's, show her around the school and introduce her to everyone in this dormy. Thank you."

"But…" started Marisa, but Lute was already turning to leave.

"I'm a prefect," said Lute, "So if I say this girl is your responsibility, you do not argue, but listen and do as I say." With this, she left.

Eirika looked apologetically at Marisa, who marked a page in her book, closed it and then walked over to Eirika. "Hello," she said, "I'm Marisa."

"I'm Eirika. Sorry for being dropped on you like that."

"Oh no," said Marisa, "Lute is just like that. I'd bet Miss Ismaire asked _her_ to show you around. Whenever she is asked to do something, she just dumps the responsibility on someone else. It's beastly, that's what it is, but Vanessa spoils her frightfully."

Marisa stopped talking and blushed, "I'm so sorry," she said, "I'm a little overwrought. I shouldn't be saying that. Let's see about picking up your things, shall we?"

Eirika smiled. "Yes, let's do that," she said.

With this said, Eirika followed Marisa out of the room.


	2. 02  Arrival: Ephraim's Side

After saying goodbye to his sister, Ephraim set out for his own school. The Grado Academy was a forbidding building with its tall front side looming over all approaching. Even Ephraim, who thought himself to be fairly brave, was intimidated by the massive building and approached the school with a certain amount of trepidation.

However, as soon as he entered the school building, Ephraim found an interior very unlike his first expectations after seeing the outside. The inside was comfortably, if unostentatiously furnished and it did manage to evoke a certain homelike atmosphere.

Seeing a wisp of smoke curl from behind closed door, Ephraim approached it to see if he could find a janitor or a teacher, who could help him find his way around the place. He knocked on the door.

„Come in," he heard.

When Ephraim opened the door and entered, he was greeted by a sight of a young man, who, even though he seemed a bit too old to be a schoolboy, did wear Grado's uniform. The young man turned toward Ephraim. "You're new, aren't you?" he asked.

Ephraim just nodded. The young man also nodded and blew out another cloud of smoke. "Figured so, you have that look around you," he said, "If you need someone to take that baggage of yours, go to the door opposite the entrance and then in the same direction, until you get to the garden. You should find Garcia there; he'll take care of it. In the meantime, I'll scamper away to give the air chance to clear."

With this, the young man left the room, taking his cigarette with him.

While doubting his advice a little, Ephraim did as he was told and found the school's janitor weeding the garden. After entrusting his luggage to the man, Ephraim set out to find Mr Vigarde's office, to introduce himself to the headmaster.

Mr Vigarde's office was an austere room, dominated by a massive oak desk. Upon seeing Ephraim enter, the man behind the desk smiled faintly. "Ah, you must be Ephraim," he said, "I got word that you'd be arriving today. Good that you found your way here by yourself, I value that kind of independent attitude in my students. Still, it would be better to have someone show you around."

Ephraim, a little unsure of himself, just said, "Yes, Sir."

"Good," continued Mr Vigarde, "But before I find someone, be patient and let me tell you a few words. We are not an old school and we're not especially famous, but I've always been proud that my school provides good education to all boys who come here. You're here to become a fine young man and in exchange, you should make sure that during or after your stay here, you do not tarnish the good name our students have made for our school. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," repeated Ephraim.

"Now then," said Mr Vigarde, "You did well on your admittance exam, so I've decided to put you in the Fifth Form, remember that. If you now leave my office and take the fourth door on the left, you should find yourself in the library. Lyon should be in there; he is about your age, a little shorter than you and has light hair, a bit too long for my taste. I'm afraid the boys here don't use the library as much as they should, so he may be alone. He is a bit aloof and his father wants him to socialise a bit more, so I'd like you to help him and be his friend. I understand that this is a bit too much to ask of you, especially on your first day, but promise me you'll try."

"Yes, sir," said Ephraim, not daring to disobey or disagree with the headmaster.

"Then go, boy," said Mr Vigarde, "I hope that our next meeting will be as pleasant as this one."

Ephraim left the office and followed the directions to the library. As Mr Vigarde predicted, the room was empty, except for a boy Ephraim took to be Lyon. He did not budge when Ephraim entered and closed the door, so Ephraim had to speak first. "Are you Lyon?" he asked.

Lyon lifted his head from a book, looking surprised. "Yes, I am," he said.

Thinking that the boy needed some reassuring, Ephraim smiled at him. "I'm Ephraim. Mr Vigarde sent me here to tell you that you're to show me around the school," he said and offered Lyon his hand for a handshake.

Lyon took his hand, shook it and smiled nervously. "Sure. Just give me a moment to mark my page," said Lyon and returned to the book he abandoned.

The first thing to do was to take Ephraim's luggage from the janitor and take it to the Fifth Form dormitory. When they entered, the room was far from empty. Two boys were sitting by one of the beds, one of them laying a piece of wet cloth on forehead of another boy who was lying on the bed, his pace face. Another boy was sitting by the window reading a book and yet another was lounging around on a bed.

The boy taking care of the incapacitated one looked up at Ephraim and Lyon. "I was afraid it was Innes," he said, "Is this one new, Lyon?"

"Yes," said Lyon, "This is Ephraim."

He didn't say anything else, but the boy who spoke first continued to take the initiative. "Hello there, I'm Kyle. Since you arrived at this moment, I suppose we'll have to deal with some things right away."

Kyle motioned to the pale boy. "The one on the bed is Forde," he said, "He recently took up following Joshua to the pub down in the village, even though he has trouble holding his drink. You'll have to keep a secret that he got drunk, since if Mr Vigarde gets wind of this, he'll expel both him and Joshua. Can you promise that?"

Ephraim was taken aback by this, but nodded. Just like with the headmaster, getting on the bad side of his dorm mates on the very first day was a not a very clever idea.

"Good," said Kyle, "now, the little guy next to the bed is Franz, he's in the Fourth Form, so he technically shouldn't be here, but since he's Forde's younger brother, we let him in."

"Um, it's nice to meet you, Ephraim," said Franz, "Sorry my brother is not well today, but I'm sure you'll like him."

"The lazy guy over there is Rennac," continued Kyle, "He's smart, but the laziest guy you'll ever meet."

"Pleasure to meet you," said Rennac.

"And finally, that's Tana by the window," said Kyle, "He's Innes' little brother, but unlike Innes, he's actually a decent fellow.

Ephraim looked at Tana in surprise. He was one hundred percent sure that Innes' only sibling was a younger sister. He hadn't seen her in years, but this boy seemed awfully familiar.

"Hello, Ephraim," said Tana simply and Ephraim was certain that he had seen an imploring look on the boy's face.

"Others are not here right now, though I'm sure Cormag is out in the field practicing, but I'm sure you'll meet them at dinner," finished Kyle.

"Erm, Kyle…" said Lyon, "I'm supposed to show Ephraim around the school. We just came here to drop off the luggage."

"Oh, sorry Lyon," said Kyle, "Just put his things on the free bed in the corner."

While they were carrying Ephraim's luggage to the empty bed, Tana quickly approached Ephraim. "I'll explain later," she, Ephraim was now sure that it was Innes' sister, said.

He didn't have time to ask anything, since Tana drew back as quickly as she approached and soon it was time to follow Lyon out of the room and continue his tour of the school.


	3. 03 Tensions

The excitement of a new boy arriving after the term had already began died out after a few days and now, the weekend was almost her and Colm couldn't but look forward towards it. Not only did the grind of schoolwork already started to wear him out, but he also wanted to see Neimi again. Apparently, from what Ewan was saying, the new boy's sister also started attending Jehanna, so the girl must have been in similar uproar. He wanted to ask Amelia to pass a note to Neimi, but if a teacher saw it… No, the waiting wasn't that unbearable.

Sunday wasn't too far off in any case and there would be a chance to sneak away and chat with Neimi for a bit. He already had practice in it and the rush and bustle of the Sunday church outing was perfect for slipping away. Why did Mr. Vigarde pit more than one hundred unruly boys under charge of a single chaplain was something Colm couldn't understand, but he didn't complain in the least. Even if Arthur caught him, he would probably just smile understandingly and let him off with a measly hundred lines.

The village church wasn't very large. It certainly wasn't built with the expectation that the two schools would more than double the village's population. Therefore, the first service was for the village residents, while the second for boys and girls from Grado and Jehanna. While the service was going on, it was easy to disappear in the crowd, since Arthur and sister Natasha from Jehanna had only two pairs of eyes to watch hundreds of their charges.

As usual, Colm went together in a group with Franz and Ross. Poor Ewan, who lived together with his father, an English teacher at Jehanna, had to go together with the girls, lost in the shapeless horde of Jehanna uniforms, which seemed to make even worse noise than the boys. Even though he knew Neimi for years, practically even since they've been born, Colm had trouble finding her in the throng. He did not lose sight of her, until he could secretly give her their old signal that meant, "I want to talk with you."

Neimi of course understood the signal and she didn't have any qualms about skipping the service. However, it seemed that Neimi already had other plans for the day, since when they met at their usual spot behind the vicar's house, Amelia had joined them.

"Sorry, Colm," said Neimi, "We had plans for today since long before. You aren't mad, are you?"

Colm did have some objections, but he said nothing. While Neimi today wouldn't cry about something as trivial as him being a little but disappointed, but he found it hard to not think of Neimi as the crybaby little girl with whom he grew up. For the matter, Neimi confessed to him that she cried from homesickness at the start of every single term.

"Thank you," said Neimi, "And the fact that we had plans for today doesn't mean that we can't include you, does it Amelia?"

"It doesn't," said Amelia.

Colm did not pay much attention to Amelia, even though that as Mr. Duessel's granddaughter with no other family, she lived at Grado, walking to Jehanna every morning. Neimi did talk about her a lot, but since the boys at Grado were being strongly discouraged from being too friendly with her, this was probably the first time they actually had a proper chance to speak with each other.

Since it was Sunday, most of the shops in the village were closed, but there was always Anna's small store, or if they felt especially adventurous, Riev's half-secret pub. Neither Anna nor Riev were particularly religious, so they were more than willing to make some profit off anyone forgetting to buy something over the week or wanting a glass on Sunday. Of course, they more than welcomed students, who rarely had other opportunities to visit the village, except for Sundays.

Joshua and Forde were apparently already at Riev's and Colm made note to himself that he should visit soon. Riev was tolerated by the village people as long as he kept discreet, but if there were any trouble, there was little doubt that he would be forced to close shop, even move somewhere else. With the way Forde was carrying on… Franz did not say much, but even from that little, Colm knew that the pot was close to boiling over.

Anna, on the other hand, kept a much more dignified establishment. Apart from selling whatever may be needed in a village like that, she also kept a small café-like room, which was almost filled with truant students every Sunday. No doubt the school heads knew about it, but on Sundays, sneaking into the village was apparently tolerated, as long as there wasn't even the slightest sign of trouble. Both schools still remembered Seth, who had made the mistake of getting caught while taking a shortcut through Mr. Valter's garden, and both schools were able to agree that the swift expulsion was a far too harsh punishment. It did not dissuade anyone, but everyone made sure to tread lightly when outside his or her allowed bounds.

This particular Sunday, there weren't that many students in the city that Colm recognised. Mostly there were unfamiliar girls, but Colm was surprised to see Tana sharing a table with Ephraim, the new boy, and a girl who was undoubtedly Ephraim's sister. Apart from them, he also recognised Cormag who seemed to have an intense conversation with an older girl Colm didn't know.

All this did not matter to Colm, but Neimi and Amelia hesitated a bit when they saw the room's occupants. When they took their seats, Neimi spoke to Colm, "See that girl over there," she said, discreetly motioning towards Cormag's table, "That's Vanessa, the Head Girl. I don't know why she is here, but it's not as if she can report us for skipping church."

"Anyway," said Amelia, "What are you going to have? Me, I'm already fed up with the meals at Grado. I swear that Jehanna has much better food."

Neimi laughed. "Not on Sunday. Sunday's food is little better than fasting."

"I'll just have a cup of tea," said Colm, "I'm almost out of my allowance for the month and I have to save it."

"At least you have an allowance," said Amelia, "Grandfather says that since I'm living with him, I can just ask when I need to buy something."

"And that's why I'm treating Amelia today," said Neimi, "Poor dear, she deserves more than the one decent meal she gets at Jehanna."

"You have your allowance," said Neimi, "It's not Amelia's fault you spend it all on trifles."

"Sorry, I just meant it as a joke," said Colm-

Still, it was hard to watch the girls, as they enjoyed one of Anna's cakes, while Colm sipped his bitter tea. Anna never put any sugar or anything else into the tea, claiming that the contrast helped enhance the taste of the sweet stuff. Neither Neimi nor Amelia were interested in talking, so Colm let his attention wander around the room.

As he recognised no one else, he first turned his attention towards Tana, Ephraim and Ephraim's sister, but they sat in a corner, removed from everyone else, so Colm was unable to hear anything that they were saying. Cormag and that girl, Vanessa, on the other hand, while not that much closer to Colm, were much louder. It seemed that the conversation had further intensified into a row.

"Your sister's no longer playing," said Cormag, "Jehanna won't be winning any matches without her."

"Shows what you know," said Vanessa, "We completely trounced Rodenhurst in our last match and that was last week."

"You may have," said Cormag, "But didn't Felicity break her leg in that match? Without her, your entire team is even more worthless."

"Felicity'll be back on the team before long," said Vanessa, "And anyway, we've got a new girl and Syrene's told me that she's got great potential."

"Syrene?" said Cormag, "Didn't she leave Jehanna?"

"Oh no," said Vanessa, "She stayed on as the Games Mistress after Miss Gascoyne married. See, we still have her on our side."

"So what?" said Cormag, "She's still not playing. Without her, Grado could beat Jehanna with our eyes closed and one hand tied behind our backs."

"Don't make me laugh," said Vanessa. "Grado doesn't even have a lacrosse team. You only play cricket, don't you?"

"Yes, and we're the best team in the country," said Cormag, "While Jehanna's playing so many sports it isn't good at anything."

"Really?" said Vanessa, "Then how about a match? Jehanna against Grado in cricket. We'll see how good you are."

"Cricket?" said Cormag, "That wouldn't be fair. Let's play lacrosse. You girls will need every advantage that you can get."

"Fine," said Vanessa, "But don't come crying after you discover that you're hopeless at lacrosse."

"On the last weekend before the term ends?" said Cormag, "To give you time to prepare?"

"Deal," said Vanessa, "Though it's you who's going to need practice."

At that moment, a bespectacled girl walked over to Cormag and Vanessa's table. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" she said.

"Not at all, we were just about done," said Vanessa, "Is the service already done?"

"I slipped away while it was still going on," said the girl and took a seat, "Dreadfully boring, it was. Even Natasha and that Grado guy were unable to pay attention."

"Colm, it's not polite to eavesdrop. Who were you listening to, anyway?" said Neimi suddenly.

Colm turned around and saw that Neimi and Amelia were just finishing eating. "So what plans did you two have for today?" he asked.

"Nothing in particular," said Amelia, "We just wanted to spend some time together. We don't have time for that after school, since Grandfather wants me to come home as soon as I can."

"I see," said Colm, "I hope that I'm not getting in the way."

"Oh no, Colm, you're not," said Neimi, "I can see Amelia every day, but I can see you only on Sundays."

"Though you two will see each other everyday during the hols," said Amelia.

"Did I forget to tell you?" said Neimi, "Father just wrote me. If your grandfather allows it, you can spend the hols at my home."

"Really?" said Amelia, but the excitement quickly faded from her face, "It's still hopeless, Grandfather will never allow that. He says that family should spend the Christmas together, even if it would be just the two of us."

"Oh," said Neimi and Colm thought that he saw a hint of tears in her eyes, "You must convince him, you simply must. Colm, can't you do something?"

"Me?" said Colm, "I don't think so. Mr. Duessel doesn't really like me that much."

"He outright dislikes you," said Amelia, "Whenever he mentions you, he says that you'd do well to stop finding excuses for skipping Games. I don't think you'd be of much help."

"My parents want to spend the winter at sea in south France," said Colm, "It's not my fault that Monsieur Pent can only schedule extra lessons over Games."

"Really, Colm," said Neimi, "Your French is fine. You don't need any extra lessons and it might put Amelia's grandfather in better mood, so he'd allow her to visit."

She paused and then she added, "Please."

Colm was afraid that if he said no, Neimi would burst into tears, but even without this danger, saying no was out of the question. He could never say no to Neimi, not when she was looking at him like that.

"I give up," he said, "I suppose I can do that, though Monsieur Pent was saying that he had nothing better to do than tutoring me, since his wife also has a class at that time and Clarine spends most of her time playing somewhere with Myrrh."

"Maybe you can talk someone else into taking those lessons," said Amelia, "I think I heard Mr. Vigarde say that Lyon was having problems with French. Oh, and thank you Colm."

"Lyon?" said Colm, "I though that he was the best student we had at Grado?"

"Yes, he is," said Amelia, "But you know how shy he is. He sometimes has trouble talking with people in English, let alone French."

"Well, at least this Lyon sounds a whole deal more pleasant than the best student at Jehanna," said Neimi, "She could probably take a page out of his book."

"Oh, Lute is absolutely horrid, there's no doubt," said Amelia, "Did you hear that when she was asked to show Eirika around the school, she made Marisa do it?"¨

"Yes, that was perfectly beastly," said Neimi, "I say, if she wanted to be a prefect, she should take both the rights _and _the responsibilities."

"Ahem, I can hear you," said a voice suddenly and when they looked up, the bespectacled girl who joined Cormag's table was now standing by their own table.

"Well," continued the girl, apparently the Lute that the girls were talking about, "I can't let this slide. Both of you, two hundred lines for badmouthing a prefect. It's Sunday now, but I want them by tomorrow's evening."

"Now, Lute," said Vanessa, "They're perfectly right. It wasn't nice to push Eirika on Marisa without even saying please."

"You know that I had to study," said Lute.

"I know that," said Vanessa, "But you still should have tried to be at least civil about it. Why don't you let Amelia and Neimi off with just an apology."

Lute didn't say anything for a moment; she just looked down. "Fine," she said eventually.

"Sorry, Lute," said Neimi, her eyes still glistening with tears, as she almost burst into tears when Lute surprised them.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have talked about you behind your back," said Amelia.

Again, Lute did not say anything for a while. "Apology accepted," she said finally.

"All's settled then," said Vanessa, "But we should go now, it's almost time, just look at the clock."

Vanessa was right. It was almost time for the service to be over, so the remaining students were quickly vacating the shop and preparing to rejoin their respective schools, as they went back from the village.

Ephraim's sister bade farewell to her brother and Tana. Colm bade farewell to Neimi and Amelia. Just as they were about to leave, Cormag called after Vanessa and Lute, "See you at the playing field, then."


	4. 04 Meeting and After

Calm down. Calm down. That was all that was going through Vanessa's mind. She had seen Syrene talk to the entire school so many times, but now that she had to do it herself, the task seemed even more impossible. As the girls filled the main assembly hall, Vanessa quickly looked to her left and right, checking if Lute and L'Arachel were still there. While L'Arachel was just smiling enigmatically, no doubt thinking about some madcap scheme – honestly, why did Miss Ismaire made her a prefect – Lute actually smiled at Vanessa in her 'I know you can do it, so I'm not necessary here' way. It wasn't very reassuring.

The empty seats were rapidly disappearing, as even the laziest of girls found their way to the hall, and Vanessa's nervousness increased. The din of the more than hundred girls waiting impatiently for Vanessa to begin was wearing Vanessa down even further. She almost jumped in surprise when Lute suddenly squeezed her hand under the table. Again, it did not do much to reassure her, but the thought was appreciated.

Finally, the last tardy girl arrived at her seat and Vanessa had to start. She took the small bell from top of the table and shook it strongly until everyone started to pay attention to her.

Silence reigned for a little moment, but then Vanessa gathered her courage and began to speak. The words came haltingly and first, until Vanessa mastered herself enough to turn her speech into a stream of words that were both what she had prepared beforehand and something better. She was still nervous, but the nervousness could no longer affect her words. She explained everything: Cormag, his attacks, and the match they had arranged. Vanessa was sure that every girl understood the need to step up the lacrosse practice.

"Any questions?" she finished.

"How are we going to win without Felicity?" asked of the girl's form mates, Gwen.

"We'll have to find a replacement, of course," said Vanessa, "And luckily, she has already arrived. Eirika shows a lot of promise and I'm sure she'll manage to be great in no time."

"What? No, I couldn't possibly do that," said Eirika upon hearing her name, "I know nothing about lacrosse."

"It can't hurt to try," said Vanessa, "I'll ask Syr-Miss Syrene to give you some extra coaching."

"I-I suppose so," said Eirika, "Though I don't know if there's enough time."

"If Vanessa says you'll be good, then you'll be good," said Lute.

"I'll try," said Eirika, "But don't expect me to do that well"

"I'm sure that you'll be a great player," said Vanessa, giving Eirika a reassuring smile, though it probably couldn't be seen over the distance.

"If Eirika's fine with the plan," continued Vanessa, "I'd like to announce the others nominated for the team. We still need eleven players, so if there are no objections, I'd take one of the places. As for the others: Marisa, Amelia, Neimi, Ilse, Pat, Raymonde, Daphne, Gwen and Lute."

A murmur ran through the girls upon hearing the last name, but it was Lute herself who voiced the complaints. "You can't be serious," she said, "I can't possibly play, you know that."

"You can," said Vanessa, "I'll explain everything when we start training."

"That's another thing," said Lute, "I don't have enough time for that, there are my studies to consider."

"Now, Lute," said L'Arachel, "Miss Ismaire herself said that you can't spend all your time studying. You may as well give it a chance."

"Fine then!" said Lute and her expression clearly said that she had much more to say. Vanessa was glad that she did not press the issue. It would never do to show conflict between prefects in front of the entire school. What was already said was more than enough.

"Now then," she said, "We won't have any replacement players this way, so don't stop practicing just because you weren't nominated. You may be needed. I don't want to keep you longer than needed, so if nobody has any questions, we can end the meeting. The first practice is on Wednesday morning and I'll see you there."

Luckily, it seemed that everyone was distracted by the promise of ending the meeting and they did not notice the short argument much. Vanessa, Lute and L'Arachel waited until everyone left the assembly room, then they looked at each other.

"How could you do this to me?" said Lute, "You know I hate games."

"I need you on the team," said Vanessa, "I talked it over with Syrene and she agrees with me."

"Why?" asked Lute, "Did someone put you up to it?"

"No," said Vanessa, "I thought it up myself. I promise, it'll be fine."

Lute sighed. "I can't do anything about it, can I?"

"Miss Ismaire approves," said Vanessa.

"Right," said Lute.

Vanessa turned to L'Arachel. "L'Arachel, I'll need you to help us both a bit," she said, "We're going to be both busy with practice, so you'll have to do part of our workload as well."

L'Arachel shrugged. "I suppose I can do that, but I expect you to repay me next term," she said, "Is that fine with you?"

"That's fine," said Vanessa, "Thanks, L'Arachel."

L'Arachel stood up. "Now if you'll excuse me," she said and started walking towards the door.

Vanessa and Lute stayed silent until L'Arachel left the assembly hall. "So tell me the truth," said Lute, "Why did you do that?"

"Like I said," said Vanessa, "I need you on the team."

"I'm not that good at games and you know that," said Lute, "So why do you need me on the team?"

"I want someone on the team who I know well," said Vanessa, "Others in our form are busy studying for entrance exams, but you'd already pass swimmingly."

"Fine," said Lute, "I'll do it for you."

"Thank you," said Vanessa and smiled at her, "I appreciate that." She stood up and offered Lute her hand. "Shall we go home?"

Lute took the hand and together they went towards their study. When they arrived there, Lute immediately sat down to study, leaving Vanessa to kindle the fire in their stove and put a kettle on it. When the tea was done, Vanessa gave one cup of tea to Lute, who took it and briefly lifted her head to smile at Vanessa in gratitude.

"You're going to study all evening?" said Vanessa.

"Yes," said Lute without looking at her, "I have to make up for the time I'm going to lose."

Vanessa sat down on the chair opposite her and took a sip of the hot tea. "You don't have to push yourself so hard," she said, "Say, do you want to go riding with me tomorrow? Titania's been restless lately and I'm sure Syrene will allow you to take Mab out."

Lute was silent at first, but Vanessa noticed that her eyes stopped flying over the textbook. "I'd like to," said Lute.

"Great," said Vanessa, "And now, stop studying. You're already far ahead of everyone else, so you don't need to waste this evening."

Lute looked up, "Do you have anything in mind for what should I do?"

"Relax for once," said Vanessa, "You take everything too seriously."

"But there's an English test next week," said Lute, "And you know that Mr. Saleh's tests are always difficult."

"Now that's just an excuse," said Vanessa, "The last time he gave us a test, you complained that it was too easy."

"You caught me," said Lute and smiled cheekily, "I just don't feel like doing much else than studying tonight."

"Is something the matter?" said Vanessa.

"Does there have to be something wrong for me to want to study all evening?" said Lute, "But you're right. I have been feeling terribly tired lately."

"Are you ill?" said Vanessa.

Lute shook her head. "No, that's probably not it," she said, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Not quite believing her, Vanessa put her hand on Lute's forehead. No, she did not have fever or even raised temperature. "You don't have to worry," said Lute, "I'm just tired, that's all."

"If you're tired," said Vanessa, "Then you should just go to bed and not tire yourself."

Lute book marked her page and closed the textbook. "You won't stop bothering me until I agree with you, right?"

Vanessa nodded. "You don't have to say it like that, but yes."

Smiling a little, Lute finished her cup of tea and stood up. She leaned in and gave Vanessa a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be going then," she said, "Good night."

"Wait, I'll go with you," said Vanessa. She felt a short pang of guilt at leaving the dirty cups behind, but she wanted to make sure that Lute was really going to sleep. Not to mention that there must have been something seriously wrong with Lute for her to give up so quietly and Vanessa wanted to keep an eye on her.

Leaving the study as it was, only extinguishing the fire in the stove, Vanessa joined Lute who was impatiently waiting for her. Was it just her imagination or was Lute trembling? The weather was still chilly, but that couldn't have been the reason, since today was unusually warm.

"I thought I told you to stop worrying," said Lute, "I'll be fine after I have a little rest."

Vanessa didn't say anything; she only nodded. They were the first to arrive in the Sixth Form dormitory that evening. Vanessa made sure that Lute was tucked in and, since she didn't want to leave Lute alone, went to bed herself, even though she wasn't in the least sleepy.


	5. 05 Secrets

Eirika and Marisa were on their way back to the dormitory when they heard footsteps of someone running through the corridors. The footsteps were getting closer to them, so Eirika turned around to see who it was. It turned out to be L'Arachel who was already panting by the time she reached them.

„Eirika… Marisa…" she said while trying to catch her breath, „Good thing I caught you. Can you meet me in the music room in ten minutes? Wait, meet me in front of it; I forgot it's locked."

Without waiting for their answer, L'Arachel rushed off again in the same direction she first came from. Eirika and Marisa exchanged short glances and that was enough for Eirika to know that Marisa was probably just as confused as she was.

„Are we going there?" asked Eirika.

Marisa shrugged. „We probably have to," she said and started walking towards the music room.

Although Eirika looked forward to some rest, she had to agree with Marisa. She also started heading to the music room, even though there was still plenty of time. Eirika had no idea why L'Arachel needed those extra ten minutes. There were still more than five minutes left when she arrived at the spot, so she and Marisa spent the next few minutes waiting uneasily, not sure of what was L'Arachel thinking.

Finally, the heard footsteps once again and L'Arachel arrived with Amelia and Neimi in tow. „Oh good, you're already here," said L'Arachel, „Wait a second."

L'Arachel produced a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. In the meantime, Eirika exchanged a look with Neimi and Amelia. It seemed that the younger girls were only told that they had to come with L'Arachel and being Fourth Formers, they could not very well refuse a prefect's request.

„Go in," said L'Arachel, holding the door open for them and once they were all inside, L'Arachel locked the door behind them. „Sorry about that," she said, „But I don't want anyone eavesdropping, even accidentally."

Another exchange of glances. Eirika may have been new at school, but the younger girls were looking at her expectantly and Marisa just shook her head. She turned to face L'Arachel, "Why do you want us here?" she said.

At first, L'Arachel didn't answer. Instead, she first took seat on a chair, farthest removed from the door and even after that, she was speaking in a voice so low that the girls had to get closer in order to hear her. In fact, she was almost whispering.

"I just had the most brilliant idea," she said as excitedly as her hushed tone allowed, "See how the old lacrosse team was broken up just because of losing even one player? Vanessa has the right idea with trying to build the new one with more strong players, but she's a little short-sighted."

"What do you mean?" said Amelia.

"I mean, the entire school is too dependent on the Sixth Form for leaders," said L'Arachel, "We did fine when Syrene left school, since she got to be a teacher, but there could be loads of trouble next year."

"So, what does it have to do with us?" said Eirika, "Why are you telling this to us?"

"I think that we need to make more effort to bring up the next generation of prefects," said L'Arachel, "Here at Jehanna, prefects were always selected from the Sixth Form and they were always overwhelmed with the duties. We've always managed so far, but it's not going to last forever. I want to make more effort in that area.'

"That's why you called us?" said Neimi, "You want _us_ to be prefects in the future?"

"Exactly!" said L'Arachel, "Miss Ismaire puts a lot of stock into the current prefects' recommendations. Too bad there just aren't enough potential candidates in your forms, but I'll make do with what I have."

"But why all this secrecy?" said Eirika, "Couldn't you just have told us?"

"No, this idea came to me just now, during the meeting," said L'Arachel, "That's why I rushed after you like that."

"You haven't talked this over with Lute and L'Arachel?" said Amelia.

"No, there was no time. Anyway, they probably have their hands full of their lovers' quarrel," said L'Arachel.

"What?" exclaimed Eirika.

"You still don't know?" said L'Arachel, "It's more or less a public secret. Speaking of secrets – I've called you here like this, because this is going to be a secret society!"

"Why?" asked Amelia, "Wouldn't it be better to do this openly?"

"Prefects have to seem impartial at all times," said L'Arachel, "If we singled out even a group of people, the entire school would be saying that we're playing favourites. No, being open wouldn't work at all."

"I think I understand your reasons," said Eirika, even though she still had her suspicions, "But why us? Why me? I haven't been at this school long enough."

"I chose you," said L'Arachel, "Because I think you're the best Jehanna has to offer and because I like you the best. Isn't that enough?"

At that moment, Amelia took a look at her wristwatch. "Erm, L'Arachel," she said, "I have to go. It's getting late and Grandfather will be worried about me."

"Oh, so sorry about that. Should I write him a note, absolving you of all crimes and misdoings?" said L'Arachel, "Before I let you go, remember to watch out for a secret message about out next meeting."

She stood up and unlocked the door, letting Amelia go, together with Neimi who mumbled something about seeing her friend off to the school entrance.

"L'Arachel," said Eirika, "We'd better be going as well. It's getting late and we still have something left to do."

"Is that so?" said L'Arachel, "All right then, but you'll need to do a lot better than doing your schoolwork at the last moment. I won't tolerate any laziness on part of future prefects."

L'Arachel let them go with just that little reprimand, which, Eirika felt, wasn't warranted as they haven't even agreed to being part of that secret society. It seemed that Marisa thought so as well, but Eirika still found it hard to understand the girl's feelings.

"She's doing it for fun," said Marisa suddenly.

"Do you think so?" asked Eirika, "She seemed sincere enough to me."

"She is sincere," said Marisa, "But she is doing it for fun."

That made sense, but Eirika didn't say so. Marisa had already said what she was interested in saying and probably did not want to continue the conversation any further. When they arrived in the Fifth Form common room, the other girls were already busy with studying and didn't pay much attention to Eirika and Marisa's tardiness. While they were working, Eirika though over what had L'Arachel just told them. It seemed unreal, why would she, a new arrival, be chosen as a prefect material? Marisa was the same. She may have been at Jehanna for five years already, but Eirika wouldn't think that she was any kind of leadership material, even though the quiet girl was her friend.

She turned around to ask Marisa's opinion, but thought better of it when she saw the look of concentration on Marisa's face. Eirika already knew that while Marisa wasn't a natural leader, she made up for this deficiency by sheer perseverance. However, this also meant that she was liable to get irritated when interrupted. Eirika had to admire her ability to concentrate. She herself found it hard to remember what she was studying ten seconds ago.

Although it wouldn't be of much use in her current state of mind, Eirika kept up attempting to study. The sums swam in front of her eyes, so after doing the bare minimum necessary, she tried her hand at English and French and failing miserably there as well.

Finally it was bedtime for the Fifth Form and Eirika could safely retire without arousing any suspicion. While it was a bit disappointing that she didn't get a chance to talk with Marisa, the evening wasn't a complete waste in the end. After all, she did somehow manage to get ready for tomorrow.

There was not much time in the morning, but Eirika did manage to grab Marisa and drag her away for a short private conversation.

"Marisa," she said, "Why do you suppose L'Arachel chose us for that secret project of hers?"

Marisa shook her head. "I don't know," she said, "I don't really want to participate in that sort of thing, so I have to find a way to make L'Arachel let me go."

"Do you think it can be done?" asked Eirika, "L'Arachel seems to be just as inconsiderate as Lute."

"Maybe," said Marisa and smiled, "But I have to try."

"Can you possibly get me out as well?" said Eirika.

"No," said Marisa, "You will have to do that yourself."

That ended their conversation, since breakfast was starting in few minutes and Eirika didn't like the thought of having to go hungry for the entire forenoon. As she was absentmindedly chewing whatever was for breakfast that day, Eirika thought about L'Arachel's excitement concerning the secret society and remembering the look on L'Arachel's face, she smiled to herself, a little sadly perhaps, and resigned herself to L'Arachel's scheme.


End file.
